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Turkish
"What happened in Cyprus with the Annan plan in reality has nothing to do with the Turkish Cypriots, but the main issue was Turkey's accession into the European Union and the pseudo-state was used as pawn".
Eser Karakas, Professor at the Bahcesehir University in Turkey, as quoted in Haravgi (Greek Cypriot) newspaper, 27 October 2004
"The latest version of the Annan plan is a success for Turkish foreign policy and the Turkish government. With the latest form of the plan, the Turkish Cypriots gain many rights which they were unable to get even with the London and Zurich agreements [in 1959-60]. The Turkish side has also had some objections to this [latest version], but the Greek Cypriots are objecting to nearly all of it. The Annan plan in this form should be signed immediately."
Fatih Altayli in Turkish newspaper Hurriyet on the proposed Annan Plan
"History will not forgive anyone who blocks a solution at the point which has been reached today."
Hasan Cemal in Turkish newspaper Milliyet on the proposed Annan Plan
"The Turkish side believes that most of its demands are satisfied."
Mehmet Ali Birand in Turkish newspaper Posta on the proposed Annan Plan
"It's clear that the Greek Cypriots are uncomfortable about the result... On the Turkish side, it's observed that there is a cautious waiting instead of an atmosphere of incredible satisfaction and victory."
Fikret Bila in Turkish newspaper Milliyet on the proposed Annan Plan
"Journalism is the most dangerous profession in Turkey."
Turkish journalist interviewed on BBC2 documentary 'Special Correspondent', 18 October 1997
In Turkey they torture anything: pregnant women, children, old people– anything."
Former Turkish army torturer interviewed on Channel 4 documentary 'Roots of Evil', October 1997
"Once you [the Turkish Cypriots] quit, you renounce your rights. There is no shortage of replacements. Don't you worry, we would never leave those lands empty. For every Cypriot Turk leaving the island, we will send a Turk from Turkey."
Former Turkish Foreign Minister Soysal addressing Turkish Cypriots in London, 1996
"We will break the hands of anyone who touches our flag… touching our flag is akin to touching one of our women."
Former Turkish Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller regarding the murder of Solomos Solomou by Turkish security forces as he attempted to remove the Turkish flag of occupation in Cyprus, 1996
"...we are being held back by democracy and human rights."
Turkish Deputy Chief of Staff, General Ahmet Corecki, on Turkey's attempts to crush Kurdish movement, July 1995
"One point we should never forget is that the intervention of Turkey in Cyprus was not effected solely for the 'blue eyes' of the Turkish Cypriot community... it also intervened moved by consideration of its own strategic interest."
Mehmet Ali Birand, Turkish newspaper Millyet, 13 March 1984
"The explosion sparked off a night of riots in Nicosia. Turkish Cypriots burned and looted Greek shops and homes. Soon came counter-attacks and the fighting spread around the island. A friend of mine, whose name must still be kept secret, was to confess to me that he had put this little bomb in the doorway in order to create an atmosphere of tension so that people would know that the Turkish Cypriots mattered.
Former Turkish diplomat, Emin Dirvana in 'Cyprus, Britain’s Grim Legacy' in ITV documentary 'End of Empire', 22 July 1984
"…we are not dealing here with a mere duty but with a mission. Our mission is to make Cyprus our motherland."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ihsan Sabri Caglayangil, 1980
"Cyprus is valuable as a right arm for a country interested in its own defence of for its own expansionist aims if it harbours such aims...
Many states to a certain extent because it suits their interests, want to see the Cyprus problem as our desire to protect the Turkish community on the island, whereas the actual problem is the security of 45 million Turks in the motherland together with the Turks in the island and the maintenance of the balance in the Middle East."
Turan Gunes, Minster of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the time of the invasion of Cyprus. 'Hurriyet', (Turkish newspaper), 1980
"The Turkish Armed Forces have neve been pushed out by pen from the place they have entered with bayonet."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ihsan Sabri Caglayangil, 1980
"... the only way to abolish artificial borders in Cyprus is to extend the occupation to the island's southern shores."
Former Turkish Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu
"Cyprus is the first step towards the Aegean."
Former Turkish Foreign Minister Melih Esenbel
"All the Aegean islands off the Turkish mainland, including the Dodecanese islands, must belong to Turkey."
Former Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Alparslan Turkes
"Half the Aegean belongs to us. This is what the world must know. If the honour and interests of the Turkish nation are attacked we shall crush the head of the enemy."
Former Turkish Prime Minister Sadi Irmak
"I was informed that on 7 June 1958 a bomb had been planted in the Turkish press office in Nicosia by persons who, as was later established, had nothing to do with the Greek Cypriots. The Turks of Nicosia were then incited to be overwhelmed by holy indignation and perpetrated acts similar to those committed on 6 and 7 September 1955 in Istanbul."
Former Turkish diplomat, Emin Dirvana, in Turkish newspaper Milliyet, 15 June 1964
"The radical solution... would be to cede one part of Cyprus to Greece and other, closest to the Turkish Asiatic coast, to Turkey."
Turkish Foreign Minister Erkin, June 1964
"The importance of Cyprus to Turkey does not arise from a single cause; it is a necessary which emanates from the exigencies of history, geography, economy and military strategy."
Turkish Foreign Minister Zorlu, 1955
"The turn of Cyprus is yet to come."
Mustapha Kemal ('Ataturk') on Turkey's annexing of Alexandretta in Syria, 1939
"The Turk is the only master in his country. Those who are not pure Turks have one right in this country: The right to be servants, the right to be slaves"
Turkish Minister of Justice, Milliet newspaper, September 30, 1930
"in case of the smallest resistance, every soldier must perform his duty to murder these men in large numbers. The fatherland orders so. You must not neglect to perform your duty: every soldier is obliged to kill four to five Greeks for our country's grandeur. Every soldier is obliged to carry out the contents of this order."
The order of Nourredin, Chief of the Turkish army in Smyrna (Izmir) for the slaughter of the indigenous Greek population, 1922
"We have driven out our Greek subjects and done everything to uproot them, as well as the Armenians. To this end we applied methods similar to those used in the Middle Ages."
Turkish journalist Edip Hanem, 1918
"The extermination of the Christian [Greek and Armenian] population was an unforgettable crime... It was a crime committed for no reason."
Turkish Senator Damad Ferid Pasha, 1918
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